Living in The Present

Fast Lenny

Fast Lenny

Faster Than You...
Silver Member
We all do it in different forms in our lives, don't know anyone who is not guilty of living in the past from time to time. I believe I was talking to Billy one time about how I would have liked to have seen all the great players from the past and he said something wise like usual about not looking to the past and looking past the players today because they are great too.

We have Scott Frost beating Efren back to back nights and showcased some of the best one pocket in the world tonight. He is looking to play Justin Hall next in Florida and anyone else in the world one pocket. Maybe we will see him rematch Alex on a neutral table or perhaps Shane.

This might be the best time right now for our cherished game of one pocket, it has never been more popular. We have one of if not the best one pocket money player playing whoever steps up and we are able to watch from the comfort of our homes (for me a hotel room). Enjoy the present fellas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyiiS6N-9rg
 
yep, lots of great one pocket action online to experience vicariously what it's like to play world class pool for lots of money.

For me though.....I'd rather be playing than sweating the action. When I see great players matched up it always inspires me to want to go play.

As for Alex....I would say that perhaps Scott needs to play him on the same table to exorcise that demon. Kind of like the tennis players who are only good on one surface vs. the ones who are good on all surfaces. Be a shame if Scott was only considered "the best" on Diamond tables but not on other tables.

I think part of being a world class player means that you kind of have to step up and conquer your opponents on whatever table is available.
 
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Nice post. We do live in a great era and get to watch so many of the best ever.
 
JB, I agree you have to be great on all tables to be the greatest. Scott is the man on the Diamond tables for sure! I believe he would beat Alex this time on a GC if they played again somewhere that was not a home table to either one of them. I actually bet on Alex in the last match because Scott had not been playing that much and def not anyone Alex's speed. He looks like he is playing up to speed now and I would take Scott this time.
 
Fast Lenny said:
We all do it in different forms in our lives, don't know anyone who is not guilty of living in the past from time to time. I believe I was talking to Billy one time about how I would have liked to have seen all the great players from the past and he said something wise like usual about not looking to the past and looking past the players today because they are great too.

We have Scott Frost beating Efren back to back nights and showcased some of the best one pocket in the world tonight. He is looking to play Justin Hall next in Florida and anyone else in the world one pocket. Maybe we will see him rematch Alex on a neutral table or perhaps Shane.

This might be the best time right now for our cherished game of one pocket, it has never been more popular. We have one of if not the best one pocket money player playing whoever steps up and we are able to watch from the comfort of our homes (for me a hotel room). Enjoy the present fellas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyiiS6N-9rg
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These are the good ol' days. 50 years from now people will be talking about this era.

Lou Figueroa
 
lfigueroa said:
These are the good ol' days. 50 years from now people will be talking about this era.

Lou Figueroa
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Yes and the great thing is we will have video to show of these great shots, runs and jibber jabber. Stories seem to change over years depending on who is telling them I noticed, it goes from he did x to he did y and then to z. :p
 
I agree Lenny , every time someone tells me how much better the one pocket players were back in the day I pull out my 1966 One Pocket Championship tape of Boston Shorty vs Luther Lassiter for the final,and let them watch it.
I know it is only one match but it's pretty ugly one pocket, all around.
 
Even though I'm not a big fan of one pocket (I appreciate it, but I'm not really into playing it or watching it for long stretches) I certainly agree with Lenny that sometimes as pool fans we can lose the forest for the trees. It's good to sit back and take stock of what we get to witness sometimes.
 
No offense, but if Scott plays the way he did the last two days, he gets crucified by either SVB or Pagulayan..... On any table...

He "might" be biting off a little more than he can chew with Justin Hall... We'll have to see how Justin moves, because he for sure is going to outshoot Scott. For my money, it's a pickem.

Were you guys watching the same match I was?

Short Bus "I'll take 14-5, Mr. Frost.." Russ
 
Frost lost the challenge match to Pagulayan because he tried to play Power One-Pocket on a less-than-perfect table. Power One-Pocket is a precision game...and the table has to be very precise for it to work. The GC they played on left a lot to be desired in the precision department.

Pagulayan played a much more traditional, conservative game. I don't know if it was because he recognized the table's limitations or that's just the game he plays. Probably a combination of both.

You'll notice that when Frost won games on that table he played a more traditional, conservative game. He didn't try to move three balls at a time; he settled for moving one ball very well. And he won those games.
 
Alex definitely had the advantage against Scott in their match at Hardtimes.
Alex had been gambling against Shane at Hardtimes for the week prior to the match with Scott, while Scott came in just prior to the match with Alex. Advantage Alex.

Alex is a snooker player. They played on tight 4 inch pockets. Advantage Alex.

If you want to play a power game or straight pool, DO NOT play on a table with 4 inch pockets. Shooting hard on a table with really tight pockets often results in a loss, everything needs to be finessed (snooker style). Advantage Alex.

If everything was neutral Alex may still have won but Scott probably would have been the favorite.

Wayne
 
Fast Lenny said:
We all do it in different forms in our lives, don't know anyone who is not guilty of living in the past from time to time. I believe I was talking to Billy one time about how I would have liked to have seen all the great players from the past and he said something wise like usual about not looking to the past and looking past the players today because they are great too.

We have Scott Frost beating Efren back to back nights and showcased some of the best one pocket in the world tonight. He is looking to play Justin Hall next in Florida and anyone else in the world one pocket. Maybe we will see him rematch Alex on a neutral table or perhaps Shane.

This might be the best time right now for our cherished game of one pocket, it has never been more popular. We have one of if not the best one pocket money player playing whoever steps up and we are able to watch from the comfort of our homes (for me a hotel room). Enjoy the present fellas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyiiS6N-9rg
Click to expand...
That may be true but watching a match on a a 8 inch tablet or even a 24 inch monitor is not really the same as in person. If that is all we have well, so be it but seeing all the players in person is what you want.

There is a big difference between being at a match in person, hearing the sounds the smells the feel of being there. All the 360 degree goings on's that can't be captured on a tiny screen that is what us old guys remember. You can almost bring it all back with a little thought.

I can actually feel being there at the US Open seeing Lassiter, Crane, Balsis, Caras and all the greats of that time just a few feet from me playing. I remember watching Lassiter play and noticing the chalk and power marks on his suit. Recognizing it was the same suit and had not been brushed from the night before. That stuck in my mind because he looked beautiful the first night but a few nights later he looked just a bit more rumpled.

I saw the tears in the eyes of Jimmy Rempe when he lost the US Open 200 to 199 after missing the game ball. He looked like he was going to faint and required the girl with him to console him as he sat watching Balsis run out.
These memories are as real to me as yesterday. I just can't believe these kinds of experiences can be had sitting watching a computer screen or an
ipad.
 
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macguy said:
....I just can't believe these kinds of experiences can be had sitting watching a computer screen or an
ipad.
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While I completely get what you're saying, you've got to admit it's pretty damn cool to be able to see what we can, the way we can in this day and age.

I often tell my 5-year old and my wife "you can't be everywhere and do everything" as we often have more things available on their social calendar than we have time to actually go out and do...

The internet sure is a boon for our game, staying in touch, and reliving past moments of glory and nostalgia.

That said, I'd much rather play pool than watch it on a screen. The same goes for golf.
 
wayne said:
Alex definitely had the advantage against Scott in their match at Hardtimes.
Alex had been gambling against Shane at Hardtimes for the week prior to the match with Scott, while Scott came in just prior to the match with Alex. Advantage Alex.

Alex is a snooker player. They played on tight 4 inch pockets. Advantage Alex.

If you want to play a power game or straight pool, DO NOT play on a table with 4 inch pockets. Shooting hard on a table with really tight pockets often results in a loss, everything needs to be finessed (snooker style). Advantage Alex.

If everything was neutral Alex may still have won but Scott probably would have been the favorite.

Wayne
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Excellent analysis by Wayne here. Alex had been playing for nearly a week on these tables BEFORE Scott got there. Scott had all day to warm up on the match table and get the feel of it, but he preferred to sit around and wait, just talking to people. Advantage Alex!

P.S. I've been around this game for five decades and I've seen just about every great player in that time period. I will only say this, there have always been great players at all games in every generation. There has never been a time when we lacked good players to watch. What's most different in this era is the number of top players from overseas. Forty years ago there were virtually no great players who weren't American (although now we know they were already there in the Philippines). Nowadays there are so many good players coming out of Europe and even more in Asia. We still have many excellent players here in the USA, but our dominance in this sport is over.
 
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IMO, Scott needs to step up and play people on all tables, especially tight ones, with old cloth, etc.... Limiting himself to new cloth and regular pockets is getting to be a joke, frankly.... He's not going to play Justin in Florida because its a tight table. Efren would play any of them tight or not Diamond or not, just sayin.
 
The Saw said:
IMO, Scott needs to step up and play people on all tables, especially tight ones, with old cloth, etc.... Limiting himself to new cloth and regular pockets is getting to be a joke, frankly.... He's not going to play Justin in Florida because its a tight table. Efren would play any of them tight or not Diamond or not, just sayin.
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Are you sure he is not going to play Justin? From what I heard he said post some no show money and he would be right there. :)
 
Fast Lenny said:
Are you sure he is not going to play Justin? From what I heard he said post some no show money and he would be right there. :)
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Last I seen earlier on Facebook Scott said he was going home to rest. Tight table or not he should be there playing Justin right now. I'm just saying that I never see Scott playing on tight tables and for him to numero uno that's where he needs to be playing sometimes.
 
bdorman said:
Frost lost the challenge match to Pagulayan because he tried to play Power One-Pocket on a less-than-perfect table. Power One-Pocket is a precision game...and the table has to be very precise for it to work. The GC they played on left a lot to be desired in the precision department.

Pagulayan played a much more traditional, conservative game. I don't know if it was because he recognized the table's limitations or that's just the game he plays. Probably a combination of both.

You'll notice that when Frost won games on that table he played a more traditional, conservative game. He didn't try to move three balls at a time; he settled for moving one ball very well. And he won those games.
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When did you last play on table 1 sometimes referred to as the "Devil Table" with its tight, tight pockets?

Why is it that so many big money games with World Class players have been played on that table? Because the table "left a lot to be desired in the precision department?"
 
Another possible opponent for Scott Frost would be Shannon Daulton. Shannon hasn't been hitting the tournaments all that much but I'm thinking it could be a great match if they did play.

JoeyA
 
JoeyA said:
Another possible opponent for Scott Frost would be Shannon Daulton. Shannon hasn't been hitting the tournaments all that much but I'm thinking it could be a great match if they did play.

JoeyA
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As I suspect you know, Shannon beat Scott in the semis at the DCC One Pocket earlier this year.
 
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